No,
this is not a blog about Gene Autry riding his horse. I’m sure some of you will
be googling Gene Autry’s name right now! This is a blog about what I had the
opportunity to do last Friday. Some of you know me as Pastor Dave the
Children’s Pastor. Others know me as Dave the Chick Fil-A team member, shift
leader and manager. Others know me as a fellow Northeastern Bible College
student back in the 1980’s. This blog is about what I loved to do the most as a
children’s pastor. I loved speaking in chapel! Last Friday I was invited to
speak at a chapel service at West Sayville Christian School.
When I accepted the position as the
children’s pastor at Smithtown Gospel in 1991, one of the things I set as a
goal was to connect with the students at the Smithtown Christian School. Even
before I went to speak to the principal who was also a family friend, Mr. Ed
Parker, he approached me about speaking at chapel. Their services were on
Wednesday’s at 9:00 a.m. in the auditorium. Little did I know then that my
sharing in chapel would become a regular routine for the next 22 years? I was
invited to speak once a month during that time from September to June. What
always blessed me was that they trusted me enough to tell me I could share on
whatever topic I wanted to. It really blessed me to share in that chapel and
God always put a message on my heart at the craziest times and places. In the
shower, walking home, driving on Rt. 347, in the middle of the night, walking
in the church basement or even once when I was in Florida. This led me to get
invited to share at other Christian schools. It also gave me a place to try out
new gospel illusions, new puppet characters as well as new teaching ideas. The
students would see me in the lunchroom and the hallways and always ask “When
are you speaking in chapel?” I was blessed to hear that. When I resigned my
position, I realized my most favorite activity; sharing at the SCS chapel would
be over. It hurt!
Since me departure, I have had
opportunities to share at a few Christian schools in their chapel services here
on Long Island. They were West Sayville Christian School, Emanuel Lutheran School
and North Shore Christian School. The latter two no longer exist unfortunately.
When I became ill in late December/ early January of this past year, I had a
lot of questions for God. I also felt a little depressed. I was only working
one job at the time and was struggling financially. I would go for walks at
Sunken Meadow State Park to clear my head and to pray. I asked God repeatedly
what my gifts were and what He had in store for me. I also cried out to him
about my financial situation. It was during that time that God was silent. I
started questioning the call on my life and wondering if maybe my “call” was to
do something else besides kid’s ministry. Truthfully, January and February were
challenging months for me. In January my landlady asked me to move my ministry
stuff I had stored in a room in her house to a different room. I became
emotional as I looked at many of the props, gospel magic tricks and of course
my many puppets. Some I had not used in years. Does anyone remember Tiki the
Toucan? I also realized I had not used Grandpa Lou or Shelton the Shark since
the previous summer! Then I got a phone call from West Sayville Christian
School from Mrs. Warren the Principal in late January. “We would love for you
to come and speak at our chapel, Pastor Dave.” I said “Sure, let’s figure out a
day.” We then scheduled it for Friday, March 6th. She mailed me a
letter with the theme and topic I would be sharing on and I was excited.
After much prayer I made out a schedule
for my lesson and was ready to rock and roll. As I was setting up my tables,
getting my gospel magic tricks ready and preparing Grandpa Lou, Shelton and
Dennis Ball, I felt an excitement I had not felt in years. I was back in the
saddle. For me, it was my first Christian School Chapel in well over a year. It
went very well! Although I had not shared in quite some time, using my puppets,
speaking from my heart and using my gospel illusions felt so easy to do. It was
like riding a bicycle. To see the faces of the kids light up and to see them
excited brought me back to my children’s pastoring days at SGT. It felt good!
Before I spoke I heard God speak to my
heart and tell me he was not through with me. I have had for some time a burden
to reach out in the secular world especially in the libraries. With all the bullying
going on around the world, I have had a burden since last summer to work on an
anti-bullying program that I would like to present at libraries. It would
feature my puppet friends along with some magic, games and I’ll be resurrecting
Toybox Theater using dinosaurs! Working
a lot and going through financial issues put a damper on my vision. After
seeing how well last Friday went, and being “back in the saddle”, I am going
for it. One teacher said to me “How are you going to squeeze in doing a library
program working 3 jobs?” My answer was “When there is a will and God places it
in your heart, he will certainly make a way!” I am excited about this new
challenge and will keep everyone posted. My goal is to get into local libraries
by July 1st! Please keep me in prayer!
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